Wave-based laser absorption method for high-order transport–hydrodynamic codes

Models of the laser propagation and absorption are a crucial part of the laser–plasma interaction models. Hydrodynamic codes are afflicted by usage of the simplified, not self-consistent, models of the geometrical optics, limiting their physical accuracy. A robust and efficient method is presented for computing the stationary wave solution, not restricted to this field of application exclusively. The method combines the semi-analytic and high-order differential approaches to benefit from both. Flexibility of the discretization is maintained, including the discontinuous methods. Performance of the model is evaluated for the problem of a transition layer by comparison with the analytic solution. Reliable results on coarse computational meshes and high convergence rates on fine meshes are obtained. The relevance to the current fusion research and non-local energy transport is pointed out.